New Shop Toy!!!

Well, I finally did it. I have been scrimping and saving for a table saw for some time now. After cutting the lid off of my trinket box with my friends cheap craftsman portable table saw, I realized that I really needed to invest in a nice one. So, here is what I got:

I’m not sure if it’ll make me a better woodworker, but it sure can’t hurt! :-)

Every Ridgid product I’ve purchase has been outstanding so far, and with the Lifetime Limited, I just don’t think you can beat ‘em. But that is just my opinion and I’m sure everyone on this board has their own preference on tools.

Anyhow, I’m giddy as 5 y/o on Christmas. Well, time to go cut some wood!

8 comments so far

Looks great! I have a B&D cheapo saw. Please let us know how this works out. I’m excited for ya. Are new table saws supposed to be cleaned or are they like woks? You simply wipe them out…....maybe the sawdust improves the woodwork ;o) Merry Christmas and I wish you every success with your new shop toy.

I have had one of these since Jan 07. I have grown very fond of it . . . a great piece of machinery. When I added a Freud 50T combo blade around September . . . it performed even better.

Oh . . . I never did use the stock blade until about a month ago ripping some 2×4 spruce. It did that quite well . . . not sure how it would react to crosscutting.

My only 2 gripes . . . I generally nip my fingers when removing the fence from the storage location and I have trouble finding the off switch when Im shutting it down. Not really design problems . . . probably user error.

I have the same saw for 4 years and it has served me well. I have the Woodworker II installed on it and have spent some time tuning it up. I built a crosscut sled for it as well.

When I first got it I had no garage so I rolled it into the living room at night. (Sweet wife). The mobile base is the best part.

There are some good threads over at the Ridgid forum introducing all kinds of modifications people have made to these saws, including adding better shut off switches. Several companies make stock zero clearance inserts.

I do plan to upgrade some day to a cabinet saw, but I want to keep this one for on the road. We will see. Due to its handle it takes up a good amount of walking space, unless folded.

Enjoy. Be safe!

-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke."

Cajun and Todd, I will definitely be tuning this. Out of the box, the blade wasn’t squared with the table at the 0 degree setting, so I will work that later today. I did purchase a 90 tooth finishing blade for the saw. That should more than suffice for my nice work and I will swap it with the blade it came with when doing rough cuts and such.

Right now I am googling table saw jigs and I am amazed at all the things you can do with this. Sometimes I wonder how I did things without it… Anyhow, it looks like it should make my life allot easier.